Grow up and stop worrying: What a doctor said to X Factor singer months before he was killed by cancerous tumours

A teenager died from massive cancerous tumours after his GP repeatedly failed to diagnose the disease and told him to 'grow up a bit and stop worrying', an inquest has heard.

Christopher Chaffey, 19, was so worried about his failing health that he visited his doctor's surgery half a dozen times in the 15 months up to his death.

His symptoms were dismissed as minor and allegedly put down to 'panic attacks'.

Even when a blood test was 'significantly abnormal', the GP thought it indicated mild anaemia instead of taking it more seriously.

X Factor contestant Mr Chaffey found the same attitude at a hospital casualty department when he was taken there by ambulance with a headache, vomiting and chest pains.

A doctor at Hull Royal Infirmary believed he had an anxiety-related condition and told him to consult his GP.

But the teenager's body was gradually being ravaged by cancer and he died two months later - two days after doctors finally discovered the true nature of his condition.

A post-mortem examination found tumours in his neck and skull, as well as a huge tumour affecting his heart and lungs which weighed four-and-a-half pounds.

The X Factor contestant had developed headaches, fainting spells, hoarseness and a persistent cough, the inquest heard

The alleged medical blunders were revealed at an inquest in Hull.

Dr Sahra Ali, a consultant haematologist who was involved only at the very end of his treatment, told the hearing that the lymphoma would have taken months to develop.

The doctor added: 'It's a very sad case which is treatable and potentially curable if it would have presented at an earlier stage.'

Mr Chaffey, of Coniston, near Hull, was a music fan and had been a contestant in The X Factor two years earlier, although he failed to get beyond the first round.

He was forced to postpone his A-level studies in media and law because of his health problems.

The inquest heard how Mr Chaffey's GP, Joseph Austin, ordered blood tests in July 2007 after the teenager complained of excessive sweating and hair loss. The tests showed abnormalities, but were not considered important.

Repeat blood tests the following April showed his haemoglobin levels had fallen, which the GP diagnosed as a mild type of anaemia.

Christopher had vowed to go on singing after being rejected by X Factor judges

Independent expert Bill Holmes said these blood test results should have been 'explored more actively'.

He said night sweating was a well-recognised symptom of lymphoma, although GPs usually came across more innocent causes.

Mr Chaffey's mother Patricia, 40, told the hearing that when her son went back to the GP with his taxi driver father Paul, 43, they were allegedly told 'he should grow up a bit and stop worrying there's something wrong with him'.

She took him back to the GP when bouts of fainting prevented him from doing voluntary work at a charity shop.

Mrs Chaffey told the GP about prominent veins on her son's chest, his voice becoming hoarse, and that she sometimes had to sleep in his bedroom, but the doctor put it down to panic attacks, the inquest heard.

Dr Austin said he never suspected his patient was suffering from anything serious. Asked by coroner Geoffrey Saul whether he had ever suggested to a member of the family that the problem was in the mind, Dr Austin replied: 'No, I never told him that.'

On July 19 last year, when Mr Chaffey was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, tests were ordered by Dr Mohammed As'Ad, who also decided there was nothing physically wrong with him.

Later, consultant Mark Higson concluded there had been 'several' missed opportunities at the A&amp;E department when the cancer could have been picked up.

Mr Chaffey's father got in touch with the Psychosis Service for Young People, which put him on a six-month plan to cope with anxiety, but his health continued to worsen and his weight to drop.

On September 17 last, the family spotted a lump on his neck and he was seen by an out-of-hours doctor. He was admitted to hospital but by then it was too late.

The inquest continues.

Share or comment on this article:

Grow up, stop worrying: What a doctor said to X Factor singer months before he was killed by cancerous tumours